This invention concerns a dressing delivery system in which the package for the dressing acts as the means for applying the dressing to a skin area.
Wound dressings are commonly supplied inside a package separate from the dressing, the package serving primarily to maintain sterility of the dressing prior to its application on a skin wound. With such dressings, the adhesive side of the dressing is protected by a release liner which is removed at the time of application.
Previous attempts have been made to provide a more efficient dressing delivery system by incorporating the package as a part of the system. U.S. Pat. 4,182,449, for example, discloses an adhesive bandage and package in which the package serves as a means of applying the bandage to a wound. In this system, an adhesive bandage comprising a backing layer with a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and central pad on one surface is partially covered with a first cover sheet such that the pad is covered and one side of the adhesive surface is releasably attached to the sheet. The partially covered bandage is placed between a pair of second cover sheets slightly larger than the bandage which are releasably sealed around the periphery to provide a sealed package with peel tabs at the end of the bandage adjacent the partially covered portion of the bandage. To use the bandage, the peel tabs are first pulled back to beyond the partially covered portion. The first cover sheet is then lifted from the bandage at its end adjacent the pad, and the first cover sheet and the portion of the package on the side of the cover sheet act as the means for applying the bandage to a skin area.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,008 discloses an adhesive bandage in which the bandage is folded with the uncoated face of the backing back to back, the folded bandage being covered with a covering material releasably sealed around its periphery and to the adhesive portion of the bandage. Pull tabs at the end of the covering adjacent the fold allow the covering to be opened and the package to act as the means for applying the bandage to a site. The adhesive bandage disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,333 operates in a similar manner, the only major difference being that in his case the package has pull tabs at both ends; pull tabs at the end of the package adjacent the ends of the backing strip serve to open the package, while the tabs adjacent the fold serve to apply the bandage.
Other attempts at utilizing the package in a dressing delivery system include, for example, the bandages disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,946,435, 2,969,144 and 2,969,145. Despite all such previous attempts, however, a simpler, more efficient system incorporating this concept, as well as a practical means of preparing the delivery system, is still needed. It is therefore the primary objective of the present invention to satisfy this need.
The use of release-retarding means to assist placement of a dressing on a wound area is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,739.